Steph Anderson’s EP “Bartlet for America” Out Today

Steph Anderson, best known for her work with Tonks & the Aurors, is releasing a new EP titled Bartlet for America, appropriately on Election Day.

The EP features six songs inspired by Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing. According to Anderson, the album is four years in the making. Anderson started watching The West Wing in 2008, after hearing that the seventh season paralleled the election of that year. Anderson was inspired to write songs while watching the series, explaining, “After my first watch, I immediately rewatched, and I wrote more songs. I’ve gotten used to this program. Falling in love with something, and being unable to resist writing music about it.”

Despite the draw to writing about the show, Anderson only recorded a couple of songs. That all changed when Josh Malina, who portrayed Will Bailey, tweeted Anderson’s “Will Bailey.” People went nuts. “So,” writes Anderson, “I vowed that once I finished A Familiar Beat I would finally produce studio versions of the best of these songs.” Though the series ended in 2006, Anderson’s EP demonstrates that issues associated with the show are still relevant today.